HAVING made up for dropped points against Shrewsbury and Carlisle with back-to-back wins over Tranmere and Oldham, Coventry City face a tough task with two difficult away games.

City haven’t tended to travel well to Preston and Sheffield United over the last ten years when they haven’t won a single match at Deepdale – losing eight and drawing two – although they’ve fared marginally better at Bramall Lane where they have won two, drawn three and lost four in the last decade.

But Joe Murphy is determined not to let a couple of hurdles get in the way of the team’s progress as the push continues for a place in the play-off spots.

“We’re in a great position now,” said the goalkeeper.

“We know there are teams like Notts County with three of four games in hand but I think I’d rather have the points and try to keep winning than have to catch up.

“At the beginning of the season people were probably thinking we’d be battling relegation but we’ve come good and we look organised.

"We were on a great run before the two against Shrewsbury and Carlisle but if we can get another little run going we’ll be OK.

“We’ve got two difficult away games now against massive sides.

"Graham Westley will have his players well organised and Sheffield United are up there fighting for the top two; they’re two Championship clubs really.

“But our away form has been decent up to now and if we can get four points out of those two fixtures I think we’d be delighted.”

North End are up first, and after two niggly encounters at the Ricoh in the last five weeks the return match in the league is set to be another spicy affair.

“I think so, they’ve been tasty enough games in the previous two and their boss is quite lively on the bench as well so we know what to expect,” said the Irish stopper.

“They are a physical side but we need to go up there and try to get our away form back on track.”

City have struggled to convert their chances in recent weeks after a sensational goal spree that saw then score 18 in five away games in November and December.

“We should have had it wrapped up the Oldham game well before the dying minutes, but we have seemed to drop back a bit and allow the opposition to create a few chances lately,” said Murphy.

“We just need to start getting that second goal which would take a lot of pressure off, not just myself and the back four, but calm the lads down a little bit because while it’s only 1-0 there’s always a chance of them getting one back as Oldham did and then had a chance after that to win it, so it’s important we stick away the chances we’re getting.

“We are creating chances and we need to get it to two and then to three to kill the game off because as the gaffer keeps saying, at 1-0 they are always in the game.

"But the fact that we can keep going and grab late winners shows the lads have great belief to score goals. We have worked on it a bit and the manager wants the lads, especially the midfielders, pushing up in the 93rd and 94th minutes.”

He added: “Two wins in the space of four days is brilliant and makes up for the dropped points in the previous league games. You think back and look what we could have had now but that’s football and it’s all about consistency.”